Sanjeevan: "I felt the bullet going in.."

Developer intimidate to demolish Ladang Bukit Raja

MAIS: Woman willingly converted to Islam

Contrary to Madinah Kanniamah's claim, Majlis Agama Islam Selangor clarifies that she had converted to Islam on her own free will

PETALING JAYA: Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) secretary Misri Idris said today that Madinah Kanniamah had voluntarily embraced Islam, shooting down claims that she was converted without her knowledge.

Misri said that the Muslim Welfare Organisation Malaysia (Perkim) had proof that she had gone through the necessary procedures to convert to Islam.

“Records show that she had embraced Islam at Perkim in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur. MAIS had officially registered her as a Muslim on Aug 3, 1983,” said Misri.

On Sept 5, FMT reported that an illiterate Hindu woman had been converted to Islam without her knowledge and only found out about it through the National Registration Department (NRD).

Madinah said she was in a relationship with an Indian national, at the age of 19, who claimed to be a Hindu. She lived with him and later found out he was a Muslim.

He had taken her identification card (IC) on the pretext of opening a bank account for her and later returned it with a Muslim name.

The man absconded and Madinah found out later that her IC indicated her as a Muslim.

Years later, she married a Hindu man in a customary wedding as the later feared that he would have to convert to Islam if the marriage was registered.

She now has five children from her marriage, four of them without MyKads as she feared that they might be registered as Muslims. Only the eldest has a MyKad and registered as a Muslim.

‘We follow procedures’

Misri said that it is part of the legislation to explain the two ‘kalimah syahadah’ to the person wanting to convert to Islam.

The syahadah is is an Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God’s prophet.

“It is part of the legislation, it must be done. The person in charge of the conversion bears the responsibility to explain the two ‘kalimah syahadah’.

“The person converting to Islam will then have to read it out themselves willingly,” he said.

Misri claims that Madinah had performed the mentioned acts and put her thumbprint on the required documents, agreeing to convert to Islam willingly in the presence of two witnesses.

“This is a standard procedure at MAIS and other institutions which convert individuals to Islam, it’s very uniform.

“We therefore deny all allegations by Madinah and assure the people that we follow all procedures as set by the law of the land and ‘Syarak’ law,” he added.

Misri said he hopes this clarification will give a clearer picture to the public that MAIS will not force a person to convert to Islam and that all standard procedures are adhered to.

“This is our stand and we hope this will clear all the confusion on this issue,” he said.

‘We are fair and doing what is right’

Najib Tun Razak also says the government does not have any evil intent or prejudice against other races in the country.

SHAH ALAM: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has urged the people not to misconstrue the Bumiputera economic empowerment policy, saying its implementation does not trample on the interests of other groups or deny their rights.

On the other hand, he said, it is implemented in line with the government’s desire to continue to create new wealth so that all Malaysians can share the benefits in a fair and equitable manner.

“Certainly! We are doing what is fair, we are doing what is right, and we are doing what is equitable.

“It means that we do not have any evil intent or prejudice against the other races,” he said at the launch of the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Council here today.

Najib stressed that the government is responsible for all Malaysians of all levels regardless of background, whether they are Bumiputeras or non-Bumiputeras, Muslims or non-Muslims.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said history has proven that since the implementation of the New Economic Policy, not just the Bumiputeras but all Malaysians have shared the benefits of the nation’s economic development.

“Clearly, we have done this not by taking, or denying, the rights of anyone, but through the creation of new wealth and maintaining sustainable economic growth,” he said.

The Prime Minister said since Independence, all plans and policies related to Bumiputeras have been formulated with the nation’s multi-racial composition in mind.

No one can deny the Bumiputeras’ central position in the national agenda, he said, adding any national initiative which does not take into account or ignores the Bumiputera agenda would not be fair and equitable.

Najib stressed the importance for all quarters to understand that the government is always aware of the Bumiputera agenda as the national agenda.

“This is because, if the rights of the majority Bumiputeras are not taken care of and they feel threatened or marginalised, the country will not enjoy peace and stability, and we would not be able to achieve our dream of becoming an advanced and peaceful nation by 2020,” he said.

Najib also criticised some politicians who he said are constantly stoking the racial fires, putting fear in the people.

“Like it or not, if we are not careful we can be influenced by outside sentiments through these internal adventurers and puppet masters, we will also feel the heat, and if they are not curtailed, Malaysia as a sovereign and independent nation will in the end be destroyed,” he said.

Khalid: Police not racist

As justification, the IGP points out that 15,000 Malays were arrested compared to 3,000 Indians under Ops Cantas

KUALA LUMPUR: Allegation that the police were being racist, targeting only a certain ethnic group in the on-going Ops Cantas is baseless and malicious, IGP Khalid Abu Bakar said today.

He said the allegation is untrue as police statistics show otherwise, where Malays make up the majority of those arrested under the special operation, initiated to curb gangsterism in the country.

“Malays are the most arrested. A total 15,000 people compared to Indians, about 3,000 people. Is that racist? Do not accuse us of being racist as this is a dangerous accusation.

“We are doing our duties according to the law and we are colour blind. In the case in Malacca, the police killed two suspects, we did that because the suspects were violent, we can’t be reading ‘pantun’ to them before acting,” Khalid was quoted by Bernama.

He said off those arrested under Ops Cantas, at least 130 people would be charged under the Societies Act 1966.

“About 50 people would be charged under the Crime Prevention Act…for various offences we will use the appropriate Acts.

“However we are still not satisfied with what we have achieved from Ops Cantas…this initiative and various other initiatives would be undertaken to reduce crime.

Saravanan backs police action

He said Ops Cantas now will concentrate on nabbing “heads” of secret societies and charging them under various laws including the Money Laundering Act.

Meanwhile, MIC vice president and Youth and Sports deputy minister M Saravanan backed the police in acting against gangsters under Ops Cantas.

He said the operation mounted by the police since Aug 17 will help curb gangsterism among Indian youths, adding that the operation would increase people’s trust in the police.

“It was a good move to ‘clean up’ our youths and credit should be given to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on his firmness to carry out this operation.

“Although there are parties who are unhappy with the operation, I call on them to give full cooperation to the police in order to ensure our youth, the hope of our future, will one day be the backbone of the country,” he said after the opening of Astro Badminton Camp in Ayer Keroh, Malacca, today.

Saravanan said the police should not be left alone to execute the operation and that the public should play a more active role in providing information to aid them in preventing crime, especially among youths.

- Bernama

Najib showers post GE rewards on bumiputera

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today unveiled a slew of measures to prop up the bumiputera community, including requiring government-linked companies to set bumiputera participation targets.

"I want chief executive officers in all government-linked companies to set targets for bumiputera participation, including procurement by vendors," he said to a hall of over 2,000 people at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam this morning.

Declaring the institution where he stood as a symbol of bumiputera education, the prime minsiter made no apologies in pointing out that the measures were a response to the strong Malay and bumiputera support in the last general election.

"Based on the support by the Malays and bumiputera in the recent 13th general election, therefore today, the government will do a quantum leap to execute concrete and swift strategies and approaches.

"We call this the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment. All this is to safeguard Malays and bumiputera, from then, now and forevermore," Najib said.
More specifically though, the move appears to be an attempt to pander to the right-wing Malay nationalist groups that lashed out at the government after the general election for attempting to placate the Chinese community, which ultimately did not deliver support for the ruling coalition.

Najib appeared to acknowledge this, saying, "After the last general election, we heard all kinds of complaints, concerns and unhappiness raised by the bumiputera community about their future and direction.

"Yes, we have indeed heard you, we hear you loud and clear," he said.

In acknowledgment of similar strong support for the ruling coalition from Sabah and Sarawak, the prime minister repeatedly pointed out that the "bumiputera" he meant included those in the two Borneo states.

'Goodies galore'

Najib then proceeded to announce five thrusts aimed at helping the community, namely in education, equity, non-financial assets, entrepreneurship and government delivery.

Aside from a slew of training programmes and allocations for education and entrepreneurship, he announced the creation of Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 (ASB2) by Perbadanan Nasional Bhd, with 10 billion units, to improve bumiputera equity.

Furthermore, he said, the Projek Perumahan 1Malaysia (PR1MA) will also boost the construction of affordable housing specifically for   bumiputeras to improve acquisition of non-financial assets.

Also, among the measures, a bumiputera coordination unit will be set up at every ministry to help improve their participation, particularly in the area of procurement.

Najib also promised bumiputera participation in RM22 billion worth of Petronas projects over 25 years as well as forthcoming mega-projects such as the Menara Warisan and Bukit Bintang City Centre.

Following the race-based announcements, Najib stressed that the measures would not be at the expense of other communities in the country.

"We are doing what is right and what is equitable," he said after earlier pointing out that Chinese household income was almost 50 percent higher than bumiputera households.

Delhi gang rapists sentenced to death

Four men convicted over roles in rape and murder of 23-year-old woman in Delhi last year.


An Indian court has sentenced four men to death for the gang rape and murder of a student in the capital, Delhi.

Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta were convicted on Tuesday of the December attack of the 23-year-old woman, a crime that unleashed a wave of public anger over the treatment of women in India.

The woman died two weeks after the attack of internal injuries. which led to violent protests across India and new laws against rape.

Judge Yogesh Khanna said on Friday the case fell in the "rarest of rare category and warrants the exemplary punishment of death", rejecting pleas for lighter sentence.

"In these times, when crime against women is on the rise, the courts cannot turn a blind eye toward such gruesome crimes,'' Khanna said in announcing the sentence.

He said the attack "shocked the collective conscience'' of India.

The four men faced either life imprisonment or death by hanging.

'We did our job'

One of the convicted men, 20-year-old Vinay Sharma, broke down in tears as the sentence was announced.

As the news broke, crowds inside the building and outside the courtroom roared with cheers and applauded the judgement.

The prosecution team congratulated each other, with lead lawyer Dayan Krishnan saying: "We did our job. We are happy with this sentence".

Like all death sentences, Khanna's order must be confirmed by India's High Court. The men can appeal their case to the High Court, as well as to the Supreme Court, and ask the president for clemency.

The victim's family, along with numerous politicians and government officials, had long called for the men to be executed.

The father of the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the family was also satisfied.

"I am very happy our girl has got justice," he told reporters inside court flanked by his wife and sons.

Earlier, protesters outside the court had demanded that the four men must be hanged.

The case has been closely followed across India, seen as a reflection on rampant mistreatment of women and the government's inability to deal with crime.